Newest Navy warship heads north

The Royal Australian Navy's newest warship, HMAS Choules, will arrive in north Queensland today for a month-long deployment.

The ship was commissioned in December last year and is 176-metres long, with a crew of 158.

It can also carry 350 members of the Army, while providing cargo capacity equivalent to the Navy's entire amphibious fleet.

In its first training exercise in Australian waters, HMAS Choules will be stationed off Townsville for the next month where it will provide amphibious training to 3rd Brigade.

It is also hoped the ship will boost Australia's capacity to provide humanitarian and disaster assistance, and it will allow the Australian Defence Force to prepare for the arrival of its new landing helicopter dock ships later this year.

The ship was purchased from the UK last April, taking the name of Australia's last surviving World War I veteran, Claude Choules, who died last year aged 110.